Ratan Tata makes an undisclosed investment in Zivame

Tata, after stepping down from an active role in the Tata Group, has become an influential investor in startups.Krithika Krishnamurthy | ET Bureau | September 14, 2015, 09:04 IST

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata on Wednesday said he would be satisfied if the Supreme Court indicted the Union government for failing to protect his right to privacy resulting in the Radia tapes reaching unauthorized hands.Online lingerie retailer Zivame has become the latest startup to get funded by Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Zivame recently closed a Series-C funding round of Rs 250 crore from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the government of Malaysia.

"(Tata) invested in the company much before it raised the latest round," said one of the persons aware of the deal, requesting anonymity. ET could not ascertain the quantum of investment.

Zivame and Tata did not respond to email queries from ET.

Tata, after stepping down from an active role in the Tata Group, has become an influential investor in startups. He has put his money into several internet companies and startups including Ola, Cardekho, Paytm, healthcare platform Lybrate and women’s clothing brand Kaaryah. Tata also serves as an adviser with Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures, which have both invested in Zivame. He has invested in nearly a dozen of Kalaari's portfolio companies including Snapdeal, UrbanLadder, Holachef, YourStory and Bluestone. Zivame was expecting to close fiscal 2015 with Rs 50 crore in gross merchandise value, or the total retail price of the goods sold on its platform, on a loss of about Rs 35 crore, ET reported earlier.

The estimated market opportunity in the online lingerie segment is large — the total lingerie or sleepwear market in India was valued at $3 billion last year, of which around 1 per cent was online, according to a report by Indian Retail.